It took Joanna Mather just less than an hour to defeat her opponent on Tuesday, but it was an extra 15 minutes on Monday that really made the difference.
The Florida senior played by far her best match of this young season, defeating South Florida’s Danielle Mills 6-1, 6-0 and leading the Gators to a 7-0 sweep of the Bulls. Mather, currently ranked fourth in the nation in singles play, started the season relatively slow. Tuesday, it all came together.
“I feel like I was playing really well [Tuesday],” she said. “I didn’t make as many mistakes as I made in the past few matches.”
After losing in three sets to Baylor’s Sona Novakova on Saturday, Mather came back with a vengeance on Tuesday, asserting herself as one of the country’s best players. It all started with extra work on Monday. Her forehand came up short in previous matches, so at Monday’s practice, Mather worked on that shot for an extended time.
“She played OK at Baylor,” Florida coach Roland Thornqvist said. “Her forehand maybe wasn’t as sharp, but she spent maybe 15 or 20 minutes extra on it [Monday], and it looked like it really helped.”
Mather noticed the difference on Tuesday. She looked dominant against her opponent from USF, dropping only one game the entire match and looking in control the entire time.
“My forehand felt very good,” Mather said. “I was having trouble getting it deep in the Baylor match, and [Tuesday] it felt great.”
Thornqvist, too, saw the improvement. Getting one of his best singles players back in top form will go a long way in the coming weekend, when the Gators will travel to face No. 26 Pepperdine and No. 2 Stanford.
“She was hitting the ball fantastically,” Thornqvist said. “Losing one game is pretty impressive.”
Mather also played exceptionally well in doubles, as she and teammate Lauren Embree won their match 8-0 in just 28 minutes. The pair continued their strong play against South Florida on Tuesday. They were switching well, making great contact and making almost no unforced errors in their very impressive win.
This weekend, Mather will look to continue her upswing. She will need to be playing her best tennis in order to defeat the elite competition, especially second-ranked Stanford.
“A lot of things were working for me today,” Mather said. “I feel like each match I’ve played I’ve gotten better and better, so hopefully I can stay up there.”
